Central North Island - Freshwater
fishing report
November 9, 2021
Check out Roving reporter Gary Lyttle with this banger of a rainbow. You can see more of his exploits on Insta @Garylyttleflyfishing. Lake Taupo’s water shortage is well and truly over with the lake now full to the top. The water temperature remains very mixed as the differing spring winds and snowmelt vary the temp all over the lake. Generally it is getting warmer and with that the fishing is really starting to heat up as well. The western bays and southern end of the lake continue to improve as smelting activity starts to build as we head into summer.
Trolling a full leadline continues to be the most successful way to fish as fish are located at varying depths at this time of the year and this is easily compensated by altering the colours of lead in the water. Daiwa chinook lures along with the good old traffic lights are doing the damage.
Harling at daybreak has been very good all round the lake for the last month or so with green or red bodied orbits, smelt patterns and smaller cobra patterns all working well.
Surprisingly early jigging results this year have been exceptional with those who have been prepared to get up just before daybreak being rewarded with good numbers and exceptionally well conditioned fish. No particular pattern has been more successful then others but there looks to be some good size smelt present in the gut bags of fish.
Fly fishing in the region continues to improve as the weather warms up and the rivers start to stabilize. Invertebrate activity really starts to increase through November which can lead to some of the best mayfly caddis hatches of the season. Fish will now start to congregate in the shallower riffles where this activity occurs the most and their food source is most concentrated.
Dry dropper rigs start to be really effective from now on with the first of the smaller terrestrials such as beetles, blowflies etc becoming available to trout during the day. We can look forward to some serious dry fly action from now on. The evening rise is also on fire over this month and as long as it is not too windy or cold you can expect some really good hatches and egg laying activity on the change of light. This is a great time of the year to be able to pop out after work for a couple of hours for a dry fly fix
There are also reports of fresh fish still running through the Tongariro over this past week. It pays to keep on the move and search out these pods of fresh fish moving through the river and with a noticeable decrease in angling pressure this is easy to do.
Tight lines from the team at Fly & Gun Hunting and Fishing.
Report provided by Hunting & Fishing Taupo
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